Investigating the relationship between emotional contagion, emotion regulation and social competence: a developmental and comparative investigation.

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The ability to understand and connect with othersunderpins our social and mental wellbeing; it alsoenables uniquely human skills, including incommunication and cooperation. A crucial affectiveprocess involved in this is emotional contagion (EC),which forms the basis of empathy. In adulthood,constructs related to EC are associated with healthysocial functioning, which in turn is influenced by thecapacity for effective emotion regulation (ER). However,it remains unknown how individual variability in EC andER shape children's ability to form and maintain healthyrelationships with others. Furthermore, it is unknownwhat aspects of the interaction between these processesare unique to humans, enabling the higher level socioemotionalfunctioning that defines our species. I aim toconduct a systematic developmental investigation, withyoung children (aged 3-8) from diverse socioeconomicbackgrounds, in order to identify the complex patternsand interaction between EC, ER and social competenceand how this influences healthy social functioning. Tounderstand the evolutionary foundations of theseprocesses and their uniquely human properties, I willaugment this with complementary comparative researchin chimpanzees, our closest living relatives. Tounderstand the role of EC in social functioning, I willcombine innovative pupillometry experiments with SocialNetwork Analysis, complemented with experimental/ ESRC NINE DTP Postgraduate Studentship Nomination Form/ Page 3 of 15studies and behavioural data to measure cooperationand ER. Research into drivers of healthy human socialdevelopment will hold key implications for social policyon childhood, allowing us to cultivate environmentswhere children foster meaningful relationships, and findways to better support those struggling with socialisolation.